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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is petitioning the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to institute tougher safety standards on
the under-ride guards attached to the rear section of tractor trailers.
Under-ride guards are designed to prevent passenger vehicles from sliding
underneath tractor trailers in rear-end collisions. When a passenger vehicle slides
underneath a tractor trailer, the result is often horrific, with the top
section of the passenger vehicle shearing off.

According to new research conducted by the Insurance Institute, most tractor
trailers are outfitted with under-ride guards that still allow a passenger
vehicle to slide underneath the trailer, even when the car is going as slow as
35 miles per hour. Based on the data, the Insurance Institute believes that the
federal minimum strength and dimension requirements for under-guards are inadequate
and need to be improved. USA
TODAY reports that in 2011, 260 out of 2,241 passenger vehicle occupant
deaths involving tractor trailers were under-ride
crashes.

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